Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Henry: The Heart Boy

After several weeks of sleepless nights, thanks to a relentless heat wave in Melbourne and the incessant barking, from dusk 'til dawn, of a neighbour's dog, I've been in a bit of a crappy mood of late. Over the past week however, the hot weather has eased and a couple of fun packages arrived at my door to put a smile on my face. The little demon dog is still barking, but I guess you can't have everything, right? Anyway, I'll save the second package for another post, but the first treat in the mail was a delightfully dark picture book by illustrator and animator, Ken Turner.

I first stumbled upon Ken's art (here) back in April, 2012, when a Google search for the Dark Shadows movie turned up some of his caricatures of the cast. Since then he has completed an animated series called The World of Snowboy and Crow, and is now embarking upon a short animated film called Henry: The Heart Boy, based upon the very book I purchased from his online shop. Ken also generously sent along some extra goodies with my book, including cards and prints featuring his wonderful illustrations.

Henry: The Heart Boy is the story of a boy who, quite literally, offers his heart to another only to be rejected. Although hearts being ripped from chests may sound like pretty dark subject matter, it's a poignant and fun Beetlejuice-y style of macabre. I won't give anything away, but I absolutely loved the ending and I really can't wait to see how this tale is translated to film.

If you're a fan of Tim Burton, Charles Addams, Edward Gorey or Ronald Searle, like I am, Ken's illustrative style is bound to appeal to you. You can see more of his work via the Ken Turner blog.

Yeah, the 17th has arrived and still things seem crappy. I thought it was all supposed to get better after then! At least you got some nice packages!

I find the Snowboy and Crow Art very appealing. I started following Mr. Turner's blog and from there discovered another artist's blog called The Happy Undertaker, which I also love! It's great discovering new artists, so finding two new ones courtesy of your post was awesome. Thanks, Emma! :D

Yes, I've noticed plenty of people, both online and offline, who've been a bit down lately. If Mercury Retrograde is to blame, I hope things start to settle soon! :)

I agree, Ken's Snowboy and Crow art is so endearing! It's probably my favourite amongst his artwork. I follow The Happy Undertaker too, and yes, his art is awesome as well! If you're new to that blog, you may not have seen this gif Drazen made:

HA! Yeah, "Barky von Schnauzer" is very appropriate, or Barky von Jack Russell in his particular case. His name is actually Spike and he is MENTAL! He doesn't just bark, he runs in and out of his house all night, so we hear the slap of his doggie door between him running around the yard barking and then running around inside barking. The owners aren't living there at the moment for some reason. Someone seems to be feeding the dog and collecting the mail, but they've been very stealthy about it because we've never seen them. We've reported it to the council but apparently we are in a queue with 600 complaints, about other dogs barking in the local area, ahead of us. *sigh*

Don't you live in Florida? Your weather is probably pretty similar to ours, maybe even warmer than Melbourne. Our seasons are the opposite of yours, so we're in autumn now, but it's unusually warm for this time of year. It's going to be around 34 Celsius/93 Fahrenheit over the next couple of days, which is very strange for March.

About Me

Hi, my name is Emma and I live in Australia with my husband, my son, and a little cat called Phoebe. I am smitten with the groovy, the gothic, the spooky, Halloween, superheroes, and cats. I make and draw. You can find me on Instagram as @littlegothichorrors, or my personal account @groovygothic.

I don't do reviews or sponsored posts. Anything I enthuse about here is already a personal favourite or something wonderful I've simply stumbled upon.

Copyright

Any text or images that are not mine remain the property of their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended or should be inferred. All other content on this blog belongs to me, including the frame artwork and the design of the Little Gothic Horrors dolls.